Visions of Snow
by TyrantWaffles
Summary: Eira Connors had been in SHIELD all her life; her father worked for them, after all, and now, so did her brother. She has the power to know exactly how other people are feeling. Sometimes, she even gets visions. It also turns out that the Tesseract can enhance her abilities. She hates other people's sadness and fear. What will she do when she meets the poor, warped mind of Loki?
1. Chapter 1

Eira Connors paced back and forth, worriedly. "Any idea why it's acting this way?" she asked, gesturing to the Tesseract.

"Not for certain, but if this doesn't stop, then this whole place is gonna collapse," said one of the scientists who were trying to figure out what was happening and stop it.

Eira had a really bad feeling. She was so nervous, she wouldn't have been that surprised if it turned out that she had literally worn a rut into the floor. She let out a whine laced with so much anxiety that it hurt. It felt as if her stomach was full of hot acid as she paced. She scratched at her face, trying and failing to calm herself. Eira was scared—no, she was terrified of what was to come. She didn't even know what would happen, though she thought that the Tesseract was summoning something—or someone. She let out a frustrated whimper and stood still just as a beam of bright light shot from the Tesseract.

_Oh no. No, no, no, no, please no…_

Eira clutched her shoulders, her nails digging into her flesh. "Everyone, get away!" she shouted, as a kneeling figure became visible at the end of the beam. Eira spotted Nick Fury and rushed over to him. "Fury, we need to get the Tesseract and everyone out of here! I have a _really_ bad feeling," she whined. If no one she cared about were here, Eira would have fled long ago. Of course, no one else in the whole lab was as sensitive as Eira to 'feelings', so they didn't really feel the need to leave as urgently.

Fury looked down at the 24-year-old, but didn't answer as he looked at the mystery-man, now standing confidently and looking around, smugly. Eira glared at him and hid a little behind Fury. Although he was extremely handsome, Eira knew that he did not mean well at all. She was reminded of a song, then.

_I heard that evil comes disguised like a city of angels…_

"We have no quarry with your people," Fury said to him. The man regarded the Director with a sneer. Then he caught sight of Eira. Their eyes met and her breath caught. She had never seen someone with emerald-colored eyes like his, before. They were cold, but she could tell he had been deeply hurt, just by looking at him. His gaze was intense but all she felt at the moment was sympathy for him. She just wanted to walk up to him and give him a hug, let him cry into her shoulder and maybe even cry with him. But Eira knew that that was _way_ out of the question, at the moment.

"Yes, just as an ant has no quarry with a boot," the man answered coldly, turning his gaze back to the one-eyed man. Okay, screw the crying part, now Eira just wanted to kick him. Fury frowned.

"Leave now and you will come to no harm." By this time, Hawkeye had come down from his little 'nest' and was ready to shoot the mysterious man with some arrows. The stranger grinned like a madman. It sent shivers down Eira's spine. It was frightening how quickly he could change from acting almost like a normal person, to a deranged super-villain in a second.

"I warn you…" But Nick Fury was cut off when the man suddenly lashed out, blue light shooting from the staff in his hand at everyone in the room. Eira quickly ducked down low, in order to avoid getting hit.

When a familiar voice cried out, however, Eira bolted toward the point of origin, not caring that she could be shot down easily. "Liam!" she called, frantically running to her brother's aid. She knelt by her fallen brother, helping him into a sitting position.

Liam's bright purple hair was messy from the fall and he was holding his abdomen, protectively. "Damn," he said. "For a villain, he's pretty hot." Despites the situation, Eira smiled uncertainly.

"You just got shot with some weird energy-stuff and all you can think of is that the guy who shot you is hot?"

"Sexy, even," Liam added, grinning. Eira snorted, happy that her brother was acting okay, but still quite worried because of the situation.

"You better not be pulling a Mercutio," Eira said, almost seriously.

Liam smirked at her. "'Tis but a scratch, a scratch. Marry, 'tis enough' and hurts like hell."

"If you weren't already hurt I'd hit you," Eira stated, turning on her knees so that she could see what was happening to the man behind her.

_He's taking the Tesseract! That bastard!_

Without thinking, she sprung forward, barely registering her brother's shouts of protest. She wasn't thinking as she jumped at the leather and green-clad thief's back. Unfortunately, she went right through him and hit the floor.

Stunned, Eira whipped her head around frantically, searching for the mystery-man. She let her instincts take over for a second and found herself spinning around to face a blast of blue energy. She almost didn't have time to think. Almost.

_HOLY CRAP, am I seriously going to die this _stupidly_?_

Throwing her arms in front of her head and shutting her eyes tightly, Eira braced herself for whatever was to come. She felt the energy hit something in front of her, throwing her back a few feet and knocking the breath from her lungs.

Eira opened her eyes as she began to breathe again and lifted herself off from the floor into a sitting position. She was suddenly aware of the ring on her right middle finger. It was hot but it didn't burn. She looked at the silver and amber memento of her mother's.

_It's glowing! Is that steam?_

Remembering that the mysterious man was still around, she looked up. Every conscious eye was on her, staring in awe.

"_Well_, I certainly wasn't expecting _that_," a menacing voice admitted. Eira got to her feet and turned around to face him, suddenly more confident, but still uneasy. He studied her for a moment, and Eira sensed that he too, was weary. She stood straight, and kept her eyes locked on his face, trying to keep him from seeing the shock in hers.

_How the _hell_ did that happen? Nothing's ever done that before!_

Eira involuntarily gasped as he turned his eyes met hers once more. She was mesmerized by the color of his irises once again. He took a step closer, now smirking. She was suddenly knocked out of her stupor when she sensed an urgency to protect the Tesseract coming from Fury. Eira's eyes widened as she stared up at the man, taking a step backwards, realizing from Fury's tension that it was just a few feet in front of him. As the man took another step, Eira breathed in deeply before turning quickly and bolting towards the Tesseract.

Eira's heart raced not just because of the running, but the adrenaline rush. It was exhilarating. She felt as if she could do anything, but she knew that was untrue. Especially when the green-eyed guy appeared right in front of her. Eira knew she couldn't stop, so she threw herself on the ground, still being propelled toward the man, in the hopes of tripping him. She kept her legs out straight and boot (or as Liam liked to say 'Shitkickers') met shin. The man fell, giving Eira the chance to try again.

She didn't get three feet before she was hit with an arrow in the shoulder. Crying out, she heard her brother shout her name as she fell, clutching her injured limb. Pulling the arrow out, she was relieved to see that it was one that wasn't going to explode in her face. Eira looked behind her at Clint. She couldn't feel his emotions. It was like he was 'hollow'. Then she saw his eyes. A blue film, like a cataract covered them, but it was brighter, and reminded Eira of frost.

Suddenly, the whole building shook and it was just then that Eira realized that there was a portal of some sort right above their heads.

_How on Earth did I not see that before?_

Eira listened as Hawkeye, Mystery-Dude, and Dr. Selvig talked. The building was collapsing. She looked at Liam, who was struggling to get up, then at the Director, who was feigning unconsciousness. She knew that the thief had the Tesseract, but she couldn't do anything by herself. Even without him controlling the scientist and assassin, she was overpowered. Eira closed her eyes as she felt the trio leave. She knew that Agent Hill was outside and would try to stop them. It was a futile attempt.

_Loki._

She suddenly remembered a dream she had had a while before. She was standing in some aircraft with several people she recognized. Tony Stark, or, Ironman, Fury, Natasha a.k.a. Black Widow, and Steve Rogers, or Captain America. As Eira turned her head, she saw Mystery Thief, who she now knew as 'Loki', looking back at her curiously with his emerald gaze. There was no malice in his eyes. She knew immediately that he was up to something. She felt a strange emotion coming from him. It was unfamiliar to her and foggy. It was like someone was trying to literally use an eraser to 'erase' her lungs. It was a strange sensation. But she found herself liking it, surprisingly. Her attention was turned to the weather outside. It was stormy. Then, something hit the roof of the aircraft. _Thor_. Said god of thunder appeared, stormed in, grabbed Loki, and then flew out. It was almost comical.

Eira was literally shaken out of her trance by a very worried-looking Liam. She blinked a couple times to clear her head completely. "We _need_ to get out of here, Baby Sis," he said. Eira nodded and stood on shaky legs. Supporting each other's weight, they made their way to the exit, where Nick Fury was waiting impatiently for them. Eira couldn't remember much afterward because she was soon knocked unconscious by falling debris.


	2. Chapter 2

Eira slowly drifted back into consciousness. Her head and shoulder both ached but other than that, she felt very comfortable. She didn't want to get up, though she knew she wouldn't fall back asleep for a while. So, she just laid there, on the comfortable bed, aware, but keeping her eyes closed, thinking back to the dream she just had.

Eira took a deep breath and 'searched' with her mind. She found that she was in a room, on 'the Base', as she liked to call it. Eira figured that she was probably in the infirmary. She felt the people walking around inside Base and the slight tension that everyone was feeling. Finally, she decided to search for Director Fury.

She first tried the control room, only to find that he was absent from his usual spot. Eira found Maria Hill there. She opened her eyes, finally deciding to talk a walk around and maybe see if they had any of her stuff.

Slowly, Eira sat up and looked around. After getting help from a staff member, she found that her brother had gotten her some clothes about an hour before. Unfortunately for her, he brought her shorts and she couldn't just continue wearing her jeans because they were ripped and, she noticed, slightly singed in some places. Eira actually liked wearing shorts, but not when she was around strangers. And Liam knew that.

Finding no better solution, Eira sighed and put the shorts on. Thankfully, there was a shower that she was allowed to use before dressing. Eira left the infirmary sporting a plain purple V-neck and white tube-top underneath, to keep modest. Eira fingered the ring on her hand nervously. She was still unsure if she wanted to go 'outside' but she pushed herself out the door before she could change her mind.

She debated on going to the Control Room. She could find out from Maria where Fury went, but then that was where a great majority of people were. Dammit. Eira needed to find Fury quickly. She had no idea what was going on.

Taking a breath, Eira marched to the Control Room. As she walked, Eira 'scanned' all the other rooms as she passed them. Occasionally, there would be a person or two, but most were empty. Suddenly, she felt the familiar presence of Agent Coulson. He was heading to the Control Room as well.

_Phillie!_

Grinning happily, she rushed over to Phil, shouting, "Phillie!" Coulson spun around, almost unfazed. He hated the nickname Eira had given him and she knew that, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, she knew he was always annoyed with it.

"Hello, Eir-head," he retorted. Eira pouted, trying to make him feel guilty, but failing. After a moment of them staring the other down, Phil finally broke the silence. "So, how's your shoulder?"

"Oh, actually, I almost forgot about that. I think that Hawkeye was trying not to hurt me." When Eira sensed Coulson's confusion, she looked at him seriously. "That man, Loki, is using some kind of mind-control or whatever. I couldn't read Clint's emotions—it was like there was a wall or something in the way. And his eyes were all weird and it reminded me of frost."

Coulson's eyebrows raised and his eyes widened slightly in realization. "I see, now. I was just going into the CR to call Natasha about that."

Eira's eyes widened. Poor Natasha. "By the way, Phillie," Eira saw how he flinched slightly, "Where's Fury?"

"He's in a meeting, right now. We're assembling the Avengers." With that, Agent Coulson entered the room with an excited Eira trailing behind him like a puppy.

"Wait," she began, excitedly, "So Captain Sparkles and Radiation-Man and Cat Woman and Starky are coming?"

Phil rolled his eyes and sighed at the nicknames before turning to face her. "I am _so_ glad that I'm not the only one with the ridiculous nickname. And yes, even 'Starky' is coming."

Eira grinned happily and stood by to listen in as Phil called Natasha. Natasha was arguing with Phil up until he said, "Barton has been compromised." It was silent for a while before Eira finally heard her say, "Where is he?" She almost laughed as she heard Natasha beating up her captors and saw that Phil was still acting casual.

With nothing to do, after Phil hung up, she asked, "So do I get my own room in this place?"

"Yes, you do," Phil said flatly.

"Where is it?"

"That way." He pointed to the left of the ship. Eira gave him an unamused face. Phil sighed and gave her a small smile, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll lead the way."

As they walked, Eira couldn't keep her mind off of Loki. She couldn't understand it; she felt as if something was pulling her towards him for some reason. She sighed in frustration. What was she doing? He was an enemy and could have killed her.

_But he didn't…_

"Everything alright, Eira?" Eira looked at Phil, surprised at first, then realized what he meant.

She sighed. "Who _is_ Loki, Phil? _What_ is Loki? Why did he take the Tesseract?" Phil raised an eyebrow at her, knowing she was leaving something out. "I've been having more dreams," she admitted. Eira looked up at Coulson in the eye. "They all include him. I'm beginning to worry…"

"You mean, like when you had a bunch of dreams about Iron Man before he was created?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "These are different…it's almost like…" Eira stopped as realization dawned on her.

Confused, Agent Coulson asked, "'Almost like,' what?"

"I think," she started, eyes wide in shock. She swallowed. "Last night, I had a dream that I was in this room…it had all sorts of weird items in it. And then, there was a blue glowing box at the end of it. I think…it kind of reminded me of the Tesseract, but it was really cold and bigger. Then, I reached out to hold it, but I wasn't in my body. The hands belonged to a man." Eira, who had been staring at her hands, suddenly looked up at Coulson. "I think I was seeing Loki's memories."

Agent Coulson put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her face. "Eira," he said, "I need you to tell me; do you think you can channel that ability? What else happened? What did you feel?"

"I might be able to do it again, but…" She looked at Phil sadly. "I can't tell you what else I saw. It was…private…" Even though his expression was unreadable, Eira felt Phil's confusion and slight irritation.

"Eira," he said, "He's our enemy. I don't think his privacy really matters right now. We need to learn all we can about him." Eira looked away, thinking.

_He's right, but…That was just too personal. Loki was devastated, I could feel what he felt…_

_Wait a minute, what do I care, anyway? He tried to kill me and he shot Liam! But…_

Eira bit her lip and looked up guiltily at Coulson. "I can tell you that I felt his emotions, vividly. He was devastated and heartbroken and confused. Phil, if I told you what I saw…If someone had meddled with your mind and saw your memories of yourself in your weakest moment, _felt_ what you felt, then how would you feel?" Taken aback, Phil didn't speak as he processed what Eira was saying. "I know that I would feel violated. And if that person shared it with my enemies…"

Agent Phil sighed. "Alright, I get it. I won't ask again, but I will be telling the Director about this." Eira gave a small smile.

"Thanks, Phillie," she said, earning a flick to the forehead and a slight smile. "Oh yeah," she said, finally remembering, "Is Liam around?"

"That's his room," Coulson said, pointing to the room closest to hers, which, considering the layout of the ship, wasn't very close.

"Thanks again, Phillie," Eira called as Coulson left her in front of her door.

Deciding to check up on her brother later, Eira entered her room. It was large, compared to her room at the house that she had shared with her brother that SHIELD had provided when they were testing the Tesseract.

_It's like it's been a month since I've been there, not a day._

On the left wall was a bookcase that was completely filled. The bed's headboard was propped up against the far wall, next to the bookcase, calling to her. As Eira entered the room, she saw that a dresser was directly across from the bed, along with a mirror. She scrunched up her nose. That would have to go. Eira hated mirrors. She had watched too many scary movies and TV shows and read too many books about demons and the like.

Moving to the right, Eira investigated the desk area. The desk was made of some sort of dark wood that and faced the bed. She liked it the most, so far. As she looked through the drawers, she found that some already had items in them. She found that SHIELD had provided her with several pencils and pads of paper, as well as a mechanical pencil sharpener and an eraser. She knew the only reason they did that was because sometimes she had to draw things that she 'sees'. Eira brought a pad of paper and pencil to set on the desk, ready to be used. As Eira opened the last drawer, she saw that they had even provided her with a gun.

Eira had never touched a real gun before, but she had pretended to fire a BB-gun before. She had thought that maybe she would have great aim with a real gun, but decided that that was just a fantasy and could not be proven true for at least a while.

Getting out of the rolling chair, Eira decided that now was the perfect time to investigate the bathroom, since she needed to use it, anyway. The entryway to the bathroom was straight across from the door and led to the large sink and mirror that took up the whole wall. The entire left wall next to it was taken up by a large cabinet that was filled with towels on the bottom half and toiletries on the top. There were even feminine hygiene products and razors. Eira continued on her journey to the toilet, closing the door that separated the sink to the actual private room on her way. As she sat on the throne, she noticed another, smaller cabinet on the wall between the toilet and the shower.

When she was done and flushed the toilet, she left to wash her hands. Eira dried her hands on the small towel hanging from the wall next to the sink and went to see what the small cabinet held. She was surprised when she found her shampoo, body wash, and even her toothpaste and facial cleansers from 'home' were there.

Suddenly, Eira noticed what looked to be another compartment of sorts in the frame of the cabinet. Curious, she closed the doors and played with it, trying to see what would happen. Sure enough, she pulled out a rectangular piece of wood. A box, about as long as her hand. When she opened it, she found a knife and a note. It said, "Just in case," and was signed by "NF". Eira smiled.

_You're so protective but you don't like to show it, Uncle._

Moving the box back in place, she decided to search for others. There were many. There was another gun hidden behind the mirror in the bedroom, an assortment of guns and knives under the bed and behind the bookcase as well as a Taser and pepper spray. There were even panic buttons placed underneath the desk, under the sink, on the wall next to the toilet and one in the shower. Man, Fury was paranoid and Eira briefly wondered if Liam's room was this decked out with just-in-case weapons and buttons. Then again, considering how often Eira seemed to get into trouble, maybe he had a right to be.

Feeling like her hands were covered in dirt and dust, Eira went to wash her hands. As she dried them on the towel, she was suddenly aware of another presence in the room. She smelled him before she saw him. She could smell the thick leather armor that somehow his own scent couldn't hide behind. It was hard to describe; manly, _human_. She liked it. A lot.

"And what brings you here, God of Mischief and Lies?" Eira asked, turning around to face the intruder, not even needing to look in the mirror at him. He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her knowing who he was before turning around.

"You know who I am, but I have yet the luxury of knowing your name," Loki said, taking a step closer to her.

"My name is Eira. Now, please tell me, why are you here?" She took a step trying to get in front of the sink. He looked at her, head cocked to the side as he narrowed his eyes, keeping his smirk.

"How did you do it?" This time Eira raised an eyebrow.

"I've been doing many things. What do you want to know specifically about?" Man, she loved being a smart-ass, but this time she actually didn't know what he was referring to.

"When I shot you," he said calmly, though Eira knew he felt frustrated because he couldn't find an explanation to whatever he was wondering about. "How were you not hurt? What is that ring?" By now, Loki and Eira were inches apart. Eira finally saw that he was about a eight inches taller than her.

She decided to answer truthfully. "I don't really know. Nothing like that's ever happened before. Then again, I've never been attacked by a staff-wielding wizard-god before." Eira sensed the grow in Loki's agitation and confusion at her words. "Oh, believe me, I'm just as curious as you are as to what the hell kind of a ring my mother gave me." Trying to be casual, Eira slowly put her hand underneath the counter.

Loki narrowed his eyes once more. "What are you?" The question stopped the hand reaching for the panic button. Eira raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I am a woman, a Taurus, twenty-four years old, a sister, a daughter, a niece to—"

"No, no," he said, finally showing his annoyance. "What race are you?"

"I'm human," she replied shrugging. Eira felt his incredulous mind. She knew that she had somehow angered him more and her hand continued its mission to find the button under the sink.

"Calling you friends in here will do you no good," Loki warned, just as her fingers finally touched the little device.

"And why's that?"

Loki closed the distance between them, lowering his head so that their faces were just barely an inch apart.. "After what happened in the lab, do you really think a bunch of fools with guns would help you? If I take you hostage, then there would have been no point in calling them here." He reached out to move her hand away from the button.

"You don't want to take me hostage," Eira stated. She could feel nervousness and…excitement flash through him.

"How _do_ you know that?" Loki had kept his grip firm on her arm as she answered.

"I'm…_sensitive_, shall we say? I feel things. Sometimes I get visions."

Suspicious, Loki asked, "Why are you telling me all of this so freely? How do you know I'm not going to hurt you?"

Now, it was Eira's turn to smirk. "Weren't you listening? I told you, I feel things. And I have a feeling we'll see each other a lot in the near future. Now, I also have a feeling that you might want to leave pretty soon," she pushed past him to sit on the bed. "My uncle isn't exactly a fan of yours at the moment." Before Loki could even retort, the door opened to reveal Nick Fury. Eira looked up at him expectantly as he looked to where Loki had been less than a second ago and blinked, shaking his head.

"Something wrong, Uncle?" Eira asked innocently.

"Nothing, just thought I saw something," he answered. "Coulson told me that you were looking for me earlier?"

"Is that all he said?"

"No, it wasn't," Fury put his hands on his hips and looked down at her like a parent scolding a child. "He told me that you have information on Loki that you refuse to share."

"Well, he's right." Nick Fury gave her a look. "Uncle Fury, I can't tell you what I saw. I understand that he's the enemy, but I just can't. He was…just…his heart felt like it was ripped out of his chest; he was desperate. Uncle Fury, what would you do if your enemies saw you in your weakest moment? How would you feel?"

The Director sighed. "Eira, you can't do this." He put a hand on her shoulder. Eira looked down at the floor. "He's already tried to hurt you, who's to say he won't try again—and this time succeed!"

Eira clenched her fists and looked up at Fury. "If you really want to know, ask Thor. We'll be meeting him soon." The Director sighed and stood up.

"Alright, I'll wait."

Just as he got to the door, Eira said, "You don't have to tell the Council."

Fury sighed, but Eira could feel that he was in a lighter mood than he let on. "You know I have to."

"They don't have to know every single little detail."

Eira knew he was smiling even without having to look at his face. "You know," he said, both sad and proud at the same time, "You're just like her." His voice faded off to a whisper as he finished his sentence. Before Eira could ask what he meant, he said, "I'm off to fetch the Captain and Agent Coulson left to get Stark. Agent Romanoff will be here with Dr. Banner tomorrow. You know where the cafeteria is?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Try to keep Liam and Coulson from drooling."

Eira grinned at him and mock-saluted. "I'll do my best, sir." Fury walked out of her room.

Eira stood up and went back over to the sink where, to her surprise, was a gift. Loki had left her a small knife that was about as long as the palm of her hand. In one end, there was a hole for wielding it. Carefully picking it up, she took it to the nightstand next to her bed and placed it in the drawer.

_Finally, I can take a nap._

Eira flopped onto her bed, scooting up so that her head was on a pillow. She kicked off her shoes and made a mental note to check if any of her other clothes were there, before climbing underneath the comforter and drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

If you find any errors, please tell me and I'll fix them.

* * *

Eira watched as Loki sat right in front of her with his eyes closed. She knew he wasn't sleeping. He was communicating with someone. Suddenly, his head jerked sideways as if someone very strong had punched him and his eyes flew open. Eira felt his anger and surprise. What confused her was the fear that he was feeling. He sat there for a moment, trying to catch his breath, before shakily getting up.

Eira noticed that he was in some sort of sewer, or underground tunnel, it looked like. Tentatively, she reached out to him and tried to touch his shoulder. It went right through, as if she were a ghost, but Loki paused. He looked around suspiciously for several minutes. Eira could sense his paranoia and puzzlement. She wondered what he felt when she tried to touch him.

Eira followed him as he started to walk away. She watched as he talked to Dr. Selvig. His eyes were 'frozen over'. In fact, as Eira looked around. There were many people around, all doing whatever jobs they were given. They all had the same eyes. She couldn't feel anyone's emotions. They were completely blocked.

_Maybe I could do something if I was here, face to face…Maybe I could weaken the blockade or something…_

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Barton talking to Loki about his "next target". Eira spun around to face them. She could feel herself waking up. Soon she would be back in her body. It was just as she left her 'trance' that she heard their destination. And they were leaving tonight.

Snapping her eyes open, Eira sat up quickly in her bed. Ignoring the dizziness that she always felt after she awoke from her 'trances', she stood up. She realized how bad of an idea that was when she fell over onto the floor of her room. Eira coughed and carefully, but as quickly as possible she stood again and made her way to the door, though not before shoving a certain object into her pocket.

Eira, once in the hallway and having finally recovered her balance, made a mad-dash to toward the Control Room. She was thankful that not many people were on her side of the helicarrier. On her way, she passed by the lab in which Tony Stark and Dr. Banner had been working in. Eira had known Stark for a while now. He was like another brother to her, as was Agent Coulson. In fact, she considered almost all of SHIELD to be her family. Her codename even matched! She was called 'Sister', although many preferred 'Little Sister', because she was the youngest to ever join SHIELD. And she could be very childish, at times.

She had met Dr. Banner as well as the rest of the Avengers earlier that day, though she knew Natasha Romanoff and, obviously, Tony Stark, well before then. Eira had welcomed them to the 'family'. Liam had sparkles in his eyes as he finally met his ultimate hero/man of his dreams: Steve Rogers. Eira had caused a lot of confusion to the new family members when she called Fury her uncle. Liam and Tony had explained to the confused that Eira and Fury were just close and that they weren't really related.

Eira barely waited long enough for the door to open wide enough to get through. All eyes in the room turned to her. "He's heading for Stuttgart," she proclaimed, panting. "If he's not there, already," she added. A few seconds later, someone confirmed that Loki was in Stuttgart.

"How does she _do_ that?" Steve asked, quietly. Tony, who was standing beside him smirked and pat him on the shoulder.

"The same way she heard what you just said," he teased, smirk growing when the Captain tensed. Eira sensed that he was embarrassed. "It's just natural for her."

Steve gave Eira an apologetic look. She just smiled. "It's okay, Cap'n," she said, before turning the Iron Man. "And it's not nice to make people feel bad, Starkles." Before he could retort, Director Fury spoke to them.

"I need Rogers and Agent Romanoff to head to Stuttgart and capture Loki." Eira turned to face Director Fury and looked him in the eye.

"I'm going, too."

"No," Fury said, immediately, "You are going to stay here. I want you as far away from Loki as possible."

"What good would that do?" Eira challenged. "What's the point of having me around if you're not going to use me? I can't do much if I'm stuck in my room."

"Eira," Fury said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "you're already being very useful; you gave us Loki's location."

"About two seconds before the computer did," she said with a deadpan face.

"I'd say about three, actually," Stark pointed out.

"Stay out of this, Stark," he said. Tony held his hands up in defense.

"Uncle, I'm not twelve, anymore; I don't need to be cooped up in a safe house with a bunch of guards. It's not like I'm completely powerless." The whole room was silent except for the occasional beeping of the computers as Fury thought. Even the guy playing Galaga had stopped to watch. Eira's frown suddenly grew to a knowing smirk as a thought occurred to her. "And besides, I doubt that he'll be so keen on trying to kill me after what happened the last time we met."

Eira's comment seemed to both unsettle Fury even more and reassure him at the same time. He knew that she wasn't telling him something. After a few more seconds, he finally gave in. "Alright, fine. Go." Eira resisted the urge to jump around and hug him.

Following Natasha and Steve, she ended up in a small jet and sat down in one of the seats. Eira closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Steve raised an eyebrow, thinking she was afraid of flying.

"She's looking for him," Natasha said. Steve looked at her, confused. It was Natasha's turn to raise her eyebrow. "Loki? Remember?"

"Oh," he said, embarrassed. She walked to the cockpit and sat, preparing to take off.

Eira stopped paying attention to what they were doing and concentrated on Loki. After a moment of nothing, she remembered the helpful little item in her pocket.

_I have his dagger-knife thing!_

She reached into the pocket on her right thigh, hoping that no one was looking as she touched the cool metal. Objects that a person or thing has touched help Eira focus on the person and quicken the process of finding them. Immediately, she felt a strong pull, dragging her away from her friends and toward Loki. It wasn't like the last time she used the knife to find him. It was like he _wanted _Eira to find him, now. He was pulling her to him.

_What the hell is he planning?_

The 'pulling' was always the longest part of the trance. It took several minutes or even hours to find what she was looking for. Sometimes it took even longer to get back. She always felt the time pass quickly, though. Whenever she came out of a trance, she would feel like it had only been a few minutes to half an hour, when she was really out for several hours, once, a full day!

"Well, if it isn't the little 'Sensitive'," Loki mocked, as Eira became aware of where she had been taken. They were in an Opera House, of some sort, she thought. "You took your time."

"So, you _did_ want me to come here," Eira accused. Loki smirked, though Eira could tell he felt tense and unsure. She saw his eyes searching.

_He can't see me. That's reassuring._

Eira laughed and circled around him. "You can't see me. But you knew I was here."

"There're not many people who can sneak up on me," he replied simply, following the sound of her voice and possible footsteps. Eira stopped laughing and quieted her footsteps, if she even made them. Slowly, she walked up behind him and leaned forward.

She had just opened her mouth to say, 'Boo', when he spoke, surprising her. "Not going to work on me; I know you're there." Disappointed and pouting, Eira took a step back as Loki turned to face her general direction. Only then did she take in his attire. He was wearing a suit with a green-and-white scarf. His scepter was in the form of a cane. She had to admit, it suited him well, though she still liked his usual leather and metal armor. She caught herself and blushed for thinking about which outfit was better on him.

_Snap out of it! This is NOT the time to ogle men, especially your enemy. What did he want me here for, anyways?_

"Why did you want me to be here, Loki? What are you planning?"

"To subjugate you humans," he said. "I will be your king and you will all kneel to me." A sudden sadness came over Eira at the tone of his voice. He was a good actor, but not good enough to trick her. Those lines were practiced and his emotions while saying them were muted, if even existent. If he did feel anything it was fear and anger, like those words had been beaten into his memory for him to recite. She knew something had happened, other than what she saw in his memory in order to make him this way. She tried looking for it in his face. From what she had read in his significantly short file, Loki had short hair, normally. His hair was longer than Eira's, now. His eyes had a faraway, pained look. If she looked close enough, she thought she saw very faint scars on his skin, just barely visible even with the very short distance between them.

_What in the world happened to you, Loki?_

"I suppose you have some assistance? Because, no offense, you're not going to get very far, even with this Scepter of Doom."

"Of course, I'm not stupid enough to try and take over Midgard by myself, no matter how weak you humans are." Eira would have stuck her tongue out, but she remembered that Loki couldn't see her.

"What happened?" she asked, catching him off guard, though his face stayed unreadable. "I _know_ you've changed since…" Eira paused, knowing she might hurt him by saying 'you banished yourself'. "We last heard from you and your people," she finished.

Loki gave a short, humorless laugh. "Hah! 'My people'! You don't know what they did to me; they are not my people," he spat.

"But you grew up there. You were raised by them. They loved you—"

"I was a monster to them!"

"No, you weren't. And you know it." Eira silently cursed when she felt herself being pulled back to her body. Before Loki could disagree, she said, "I have to go. But I swear on my life that I will find out who made you this way and make them regret it. You're not a monster, Loki; I can see that. You can't hide it from me." Eira was almost gone when she said her next word, so she couldn't tell if he heard her or not. "I understand."

Eira gasped as she broke from her trance. Steve Rogers was preparing to jump out of the aircraft. Eira waited for the dizziness to fade. "I sleep the whole trip?" she asked, joking.

"Yeah. Did you find him?" Natasha asked.

"Opera House," she stated, simply. "He wants to subjugate all humanity; nothing original. He says he's got help and I assume he means other than the people he stole." She felt Natasha's temper rise at the memory of learning that Hawkeye was being mind-controlled.

"Was there anything else?" the Captain asked.

Eira looked at the floor a moment, before answering him. "Yeah. I'm not sure what it is, yet. But I know it has something to do with what happened after his brother went back to Asgard." Eira clasped her hands and put them up to her lips, her elbows resting on her knees. She furrowed her brow in thought. "Something changed him. Before, he just wanted his father's approval. And now…" Eira scowled as she finally realized it.

_He doesn't really want this. He's being forced by whoever hurt him._

"Eira?" Eira suddenly felt a familiar presence outside. And many distressed citizens.

"Better get out now, Captain," Eira warned. "We're here. And so is he."

Steve looked down to the chaos below them. Loki was pointing his scepter at an elderly man. That was all initiative he needed to jump. Eira wanted to follow, but knew she wouldn't be of much use. Besides; she knew who would win. So, the psychic watched Loki and Captain America duke-it-out. Soon, she felt another very familiar and welcome presence coming their way very quickly. Eira cracked a grin as she heard the resulting rock music from Stark's hacking into the computer in the jet and blasting it to make his entrance epic. She chuckled when he asked, "Miss me, Agent Romanoff?" Natasha scoffed.

Eira watched and cringed as Loki was severely outgunned and easily defeated. She was relieved when he surrendered. Eira looked down at the amber and silver ring on her hand as she remembered her previous conversation with Loki. She wondered how he would react to seeing her again. Would he be angry? Eira was almost certain that he'd be upset. She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't even notice Tony and Steve coming back with Loki and strapping him in.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Tony Stark's hand in her face and his concerned voice. "Hey, Eir-head, you alright?" Eira's head shot up and she looked at the two heroes.

"I didn't notice you guys come back, sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I was just thinking."

"We noticed. You didn't respond when we called your name," said Steve.

"Sorry." Eira now noticed that they were on their way back to the helicarrier. She looked at Loki as Steve and Tony left her to go check up on Natasha, who Eira could tell was trying not say anything. Loki was staring at the floor, just waiting. "Loki," she called softly, glancing back to her companions in case they were watching. Steve was talking to Tony, suspicious of Loki's plans. Natasha just kept flying the plane.

When Eira returned her gaze to the God of Mischief, she found that he was staring back at her. There was no malice whatsoever in his gaze. But she knew he felt confused and…a swarm of emotions. She could not identify them all. Sadness, grief, excitement, curiosity…almost every emotion could be detected from him. Eira felt a surge of Déjà vu.

_My dream._

She looked outside and saw that storm clouds were surrounding the jet, confirming her suspicions. The three Avengers looked confused. Loki seemed very worried and squirmed a little in his seat. Stark noticed.

"What's wrong? Afraid of a little lightning?"

"I'm not fond of what follows," he admitted. Just then, something hit the plane. Something big.

Quickly, Eira unstrapped herself, almost not believing what she was about to do. Tony had lowered the ramp to go and check what hit their ride.

"What are you doing, Eira?" Steve asked, suspicious. She flashed him a mischievous smile.

"Trust me," she said. "It may not seem like it, but I know what I'm doing." She barely had time to finish her sentence when the God of Thunder appeared, tossing Tony aside and moving towards his brother. As the God of Thunder grabbed Loki and prepared to take off again, Eira latched onto the blonde god's shoulder. The god didn't have enough time to stop himself from taking off.

Eira held on for dear life as they flew through the air. Thor's hair was painfully whipping her in the face as they soared through the dark sky. Well, it was actually more like 'fell through the sky'. Luckily, Thor found an out outcropping of rocks to land the three of them on. In Loki's case, though, it was more like 'throw down'.

Eira cringed as Loki let out a grunt of pain when his back hit the now painful-looking rock. "Oh, I missed you, too, Brother," he said, sarcastically as the wind was knocked out of him. Eira let go of Thor and stepped forward to help Loki up. Whatever Thor was going to say to Loki before, he decided against saying it and turned instead, to her.

"Eira, what on earth were you thinking?" he exclaimed. Eira looked up at him from Loki's side, innocently.

"I knew you were coming," she said, indignantly. "And that you were going to steal your brother, so I decided that I wanted to come along."

"So, you two know each other, then?" Loki asked, standing up and rubbing his back.

"Yes, she's a friend of Jane's," he clarified. Loki scoffed. Thor turned back to Eira. "That's still no reason. What if you hadn't gotten a grip? You could have died!"

Eira held up her finger. "Ah, but I didn't. And now that that's behind us, what're you gonna do, now?" She gestured to Loki. Thor stood for a moment, before he dropped his hammer on the ground and lifted Loki by the collar, unable to contain his emotions any longer.

"We thought you were dead." Thor was so close to tears and filled with such strong emotions, that Eira almost started crying for him.

Loki stared him in the eye a moment before asking, "Did you mourn?"

"Of course, we all did. Stop this madness, Loki and come home, Brother!"

"I'm not your brother," Loki snapped, pushing Thor away, before straightening his…clothing as he limped to the other side of the cliff, both to get away from Thor and to walk out the pain in his back. "Father told you of my true parentage, did he not?"

"That matters not. We were raised together, as brothers. We played together, fought together—do you not remember?"

"I remember a shadow! I remember standing in the shadows of your greatness!" Eira could feel that both men stressed and frustrated at the other. Loki was jealous and angry that Thor hadn't noticed. Thor was heartbroken that his brother was rejecting him and angry that he wouldn't listen.

Thor picked up his hammer. "Listen well, Brother—"

Thor was quite rudely interrupted by Iron Man's tackle and Eira just barely moved out of the way in time.

Loki blinked. "I'm listening," he said, sarcastically, making Eira chuckle. Or, she would have. Unfortunately, she was too close to the edge of the cliff when Iron Man had kidnapped Thor, so that as she put a little more weight on her foot in laughing, she slipped.

It felt as if the world was suddenly caught in slow-motion. Eira couldn't scream or register anything except for the lack of solid footing beneath her boots and the sensation of falling. Just as her mind finally registered what had happened, she felt a strong grip on her wrist. She let out a small yelp when she was suddenly pulled back up to solid ground.

Once her feet touched the rock, she flung herself onto Loki and he fell back and down. He let out a hiss of pain as he landed on his already aching back. She still clung to him, even as they both lay on the rock. Whatever snide comments that Loki wanted to yell at her died in his throat as he looked down at her trembling form. She looked like a child who had just watched a scary movie and had a nightmare about it, coming to her parent for comfort. "Afraid of heights?" he asked.

Eira shook her head, not looking up at him. "Free-falling," she answered. Loki sat up, careful to not move her too much or break his spine. He awkwardly pat her head. He was surprised at how soft her hair was. Loki ran his fingers through her hair. The gesture seemed to calm and sober her up. Eira had stopped shaking and loosened her grip on him. Loki continued to play with her hair as she calmed down and finally realized the position they were in. She pulled back and got off him.

She felt Loki's disappointment at not being able to play with her hair anymore. Eira had actually been enjoying it and liked the feeling of his leather and metal armor. "How's your back?" she asked.

"I'd say it was better, but I think you made it worse," he answered, rubbing his spine, to emphasize his point.

"Sorry." Both of them suddenly looked to the direction in which Thor and Iron Man had landed when a loud 'BANG' was heard. The shockwave was even bigger. "Holy crap! What was that? My ears are ringing!"

"It seems the Soldier has joined the party." Loki lifted himself from the rock scooted over next to Eira, looking over her shoulder to see what had happened. There was a large circular area in which all trees had fallen over. In the middle were the three men that had been fighting with each other.

Eira was about to suggest they get ready to leave, but was cut off when Loki finally asked the question that had been in his mind since her 'visit'. "What did you mean," he began quietly, catching Eira off guard, as she hadn't noticed how close he was. "What did you mean when you said you knew I wasn't a monster?"

Eira looked up into his face and smiled softly. "A real monster is evil and they don't realize what they are. You feel guilty and betrayed," she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand. "You're confused. You didn't want this." Eira felt Loki's amazement and confusion, but that other emotion was there, as well. She still couldn't name it.

Now that she was face-to face with Loki again, and so close to him, she could see that it wasn't a trick of the Opera House's lights. He really did have scars, almost too faint to see. Eira lowered her hand to one that she had just noticed. It wrapped around to the back of his neck and down his shirt. She felt him shiver at her touch.

"You don't hate me," Loki stated. "Why?" He scowled, suddenly suspicious. "What do you know about me?" He gripped the hand that Eira was using to trace his scar, but didn't pull it away. Eira bit her lip.

_Should I tell him about how I saw his memories? He'd probably freak out, but…_

"The night that you took the Tesseract, I had a dream," she confessed. "I was in a long room filled with all these weird…objects. At the end of the hallway, there was this blue box. It reminded me of the Tesseract, except, it was really cold and bigger." Eira looked at Loki's reaction, so far. His brow was furrowed but he motioned for her to continue. "I reached out, told hold it, but it wasn't my hands." Loki had let go of her hand, by now, and Eira reached out to put both of hers over his fist. Loki, who had been watching carefully what she was doing, now looked into her eyes with a look of alarm as he realized what she was telling him. "I saw up to when the guards came in," she finished, gently.

Loki froze, eyes wide. She had seen it. He turned away and jerked his hand out of her grip, jaw clenched. Loki stood up, his back facing her and walked to the other side of the cliff. Eira wanted to go over and comfort him, but Thor had finally arrived back. Eira felt that he was troubled, but he didn't say anything as he helped her up. He looked between the two. Loki had glanced back when he had returned, but looked away again when he saw Iron Man and Captain America following closely behind.

As Eira dusted herself off, she heard Tony ask Thor if everything was alright. She looked up as Thor nodded and they both headed towards Loki. Eira jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see the Captain behind her, frowning, though she could tell he was worried.

She followed as Steve led her a little ways away from their companions. "Did something happen?" he asked, quietly, glancing back at the other three.

Eira glanced back at Loki, who was looking like a child being scolded by their parents, or in this case, Thor. She turned her gaze back to the taller man in front of her. "Did Phil or Fury tell you about my abilities?" He nodded. "And did they tell you what I saw? Yesterday…?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "No. They said that you wouldn't tell them."

"Well, I didn't. But it had to do with Loki. Just now, I told him what I saw. He's upset about it."

"What did you see?"

Eira looked up at the hero and hesitated only for a moment before remembering that she was talking to one of the most trust-worthy people she knew, even if she just met him. "I saw a memory of his. I couldn't tell SHIELD what I saw. If I did…I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing that I had shared with them his greatest secret—it haunts him." She looked up to Steve, shaking her head. "I know that he's the enemy, but he's still a person." He put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," he said. "I understand." Eira looked up at him and gave a thankful smile.

"I knew you would." Rogers gave her a confused look. She raised an eyebrow and pointed to her head. "Psychic, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Hey, you two staying here, or what?" Tony called, catching their attention.

"We're coming! Don't leave us behind," Steve replied. As they walked back over, he almost didn't hear Eira's plea.

"He's not a monster, just please know that." Steve was glad that he didn't have to reply. How could he? Here's this young woman, insisting the innocence of a man who is currently the Earth's greatest Enemy #1. Loki is dangerous and manipulative; who knows if she was just another victim being controlled by him? If she wasn't being controlled, then she must be a saint! No matter what her reasons were, Steve Rogers just couldn't help but be impressed by and respect the woman. She knows the enemy's greatest secret, but instead of trying to use it to her advantage, she protects it as if it were her very own! Now that he thought about it, she could probably find out everyone's biggest secret easily and share it with the world, and yet she doesn't.

"You okay, Capain Sparkles?" Tony asked. "You looked like you were thinking."

"And there's something wrong with thinking?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, Eira knocked on Tony's armor, knowing that if she elbowed him, it would hurt. "Don't be mean, Starky," she said.

"Don't even get me started, Eir-head," he retorted, turning to her, now, as they boarded the jet again.

"Starkles."

"HEIR-mione."

"Ton-ton, Wanton." Tony made a face. Thor laughed at the two as he and Steve got Loki strapped in again. Eira threw her hands up in victory. "I win!" she proclaimed. Eira felt Natasha's amusement as they returned to continue their quest to the helicarrier.


End file.
